Travel slowly returning to normal as crews restore power in Massachusetts

Home owner Bill Stanhope, left, of Pembroke, Mass., asks utility workers from South Carolina when his power might be returned at a staging area at the Hanover Mall in Hanover, Mass., Sunday, Feb. 10, 2013. A howling storm across the Northeast left the New York-to-Boston corridor shrouded in 1 to 3 feet of snow Saturday, stranding motorists on highways overnight and piling up drifts so high that some homeowners couldn't get their doors open. More than 650,000 homes and businesses were left without electricity. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa) Purchase photo reprints »

With more than a hundred trucks waiting to deploy, National Grid and utility workers from South Carolina meet on the hood of a pick-up truck to discuss their plan to re-energize towns without power at the Hanover Mall in Hanover, Mass., Sunday, Feb. 10, 2013. A howling storm across the Northeast left the New York-to-Boston corridor shrouded in 1 to 3 feet of snow Saturday, stranding motorists on highways overnight and piling up drifts so high that some homeowners couldn't get their doors open. More than 650,000 homes and businesses were left without electricity. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa) Purchase photo reprints »

A City of Boston snow machine operator informs a couple that they will need to shovel their car out all over again after he clears the snow from their unplowed street in Boston Sunday, Feb. 10, 2013. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson) Purchase photo reprints »

PLYMOUTH (AP) — Travel slowly returned to normal and crews raced to restore power in Massachusetts on Sunday after the massive snowstorm that dumped up to 30 inches of snow in the Northeast and lashed the coast with damaging winds and tides.

Some trains and buses began running Sunday, said authorities, who hoped to fully restore the system for Monday morning’s rush hour. Logan Airport also reopened, and a travel ban on roads was lifted.

About 240,000 homes and businesses, mostly along the southeastern Massachusetts coast and on Cape Cod, were without power Sunday morning and some might be without it until Tuesday, officials warned. About 1,000 people stayed overnight in shelters, said Gov. Deval Patrick.

“Considering the severity of the storm, the amount of snow and the wind, we’ve come though this pretty well,” Patrick told CBS “Face the Nation.”

The governor, joined by U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and interim Sen. William “Mo” Cowan, toured hard-hit areas of Plymouth and Cape Cod on Sunday, meeting with local emergency management officials.

Patrick said damage along the coast was still being assessed, but no serious injuries were reported from flooding.

Officials warned of carbon monoxide dangers after two people, including a teenage boy, died while sitting in running cars in Boston.

The boy’s father was shoveling snow in the Roxbury neighborhood on Saturday and put his son into the car to stay warm. The car’s tailpipe was clogged with snow and the boy was overcome by carbon monoxide, said Boston Fire Department spokesman Steve MacDonald.

The boy, whose name was not released, was 13 or 14, MacDonald said.

A man in his 20s was found dead Saturday in a running car in the city’s Mattapan neighborhood, MacDonald said. Two children who also were overcome in a car in East Boston were taken to a hospital and expected to recover.

Snow accumulation, downed tree limbs and other damage from high winds and the overall age of the transit system made restoration challenging, said Beverly Scott, the MBTA’s general manager. Streets that were impassable or significantly narrowed by the snow will also make it difficult for some buses to get through.

Still, Scott said she hoped for the system to be fully restored by Monday, albeit with some delays.

“Give yourself more time and expect that it is going to take us more time,” Scott advised customers. “But we are going to be fully operational.”

One concern going forward was a forecast for rain Monday. While warmer temperatures might begin melting snow, the rain on top of snow-laden roofs could pose a danger of collapse.

“We are encouraging people as they can do so safely to use snow rakes and so forth to move the snow off of their roofs,” Patrick said.

SOUTH HADLEY — Area police and public works officials are crediting a statewide 24-hour travel ban imposed during Winter Storm Nemo with helping to prevent major road accidents or injuries as a result of the weekend’s nor’easter. “It worked pretty well,” said Sgt. David Gagney of the South Hadley Police. “There’s always a few who don’t follow it, but most …